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January 31, 2013

The Top Reason CFPs Avoid Social Media

While 73% of CFPs use social media, only 45% use it for professional purposes

Uncertainty over compliance and regulatory requirements remains the top reason CFPs steer clear of using social media for professional use, according to a just-released survey by the CFP Board.

The survey of 3,532 CFP professionals, completed in October 2012, found that while 73% of those CFPs surveyed say they use social media, only about 45% of CFPs use it for professional purposes. The three top reasons CFPs do not use social media for professional purposes include:

Compliance prohibitions and limitations (37%);

Uncertainty over compliance and regulatory requirements (33%); and

Lack of time (20%).

CFP professionals’ compliance departments prohibit them most often from using:

Facebook (33%);

Twitter (29.4%); and

YouTube (28.7%)

Kevin Keller, CFP Board’s CEO, said in a statement that “these results indicate that CFP professionals are interested in using social media as a platform to educate the public about the value of financial planning and why they should use a CFP professional in addition to using it as a tool to network.”

However, Keller continued, “more work needs to be done though to help CFP professionals and others better understand the rules of the road when it comes to the use of these communication tools.”